


It All Started Fairly Normally

by Kazyre



Series: Mainline [1]
Category: Justice League, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Abuse, Angst with a Happy Ending, Family, Friendship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-05
Updated: 2013-09-05
Packaged: 2017-12-25 16:42:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 21,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/955402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kazyre/pseuds/Kazyre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Wally doesn't show up at the cave one day for training, Dick immediately knows something happened to his best friend. The League is called in to help once they do find him. As well as the entire speedster family.<br/>(Edited on 7/9/15)</p>
            </blockquote>





	It All Started Fairly Normally

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [День начинался как обычно](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6488770) by [EvaVerso](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvaVerso/pseuds/EvaVerso)



It all started fairly normally. Richard Grayson woke at precisely 4:00 am. He spent an hour in the Batcave's state of the art gym doing his morning workout, which was more or less sixty minutes of reckless flips and dives without Bruce's overbearing presence weighing down on him. Bruce had gone into the office early that day, allowing Dick to steal a lazy morning for once.

He'd showered and dressed after, wolfing down almost four of Alfred's freshly baked banana spice muffins before being ushered into the sleek black town car that Bruce had installed armor plating into. On the drive to school, Dick had sent a text to his best friend, teasing him about the three tests he had that day. The speedster had been complaining about them for half the week. Wally hadn't replied, which wasn't all that odd; he probably wasn't even awake yet. Missouri was an hour behind New Jersey after all.

The school day dragged on like usual until lunch when he got to see Barbara for a brief half hour. Then it was back to charming his classmates and teachers, and politely pretending to pay rapt attention to his lessons until 2:00 when school let out. Afterwards, it was a short drive back to the manor with Alfred, two hours of homework and a quick snack, and then catching a zeta tube ride to Mount Justice.

Dick had his trademark grin on his face when he strode into the cave.

" _Recognize: Robin – B01"_

The computerized voice drew the attention of his friends and teammates who were loosely gathered in the kitchen chatting with each other. Kaldur and Conner were sitting at the table with one of M'gann's culinary creations while the Martian telekinetically washed the dishes and tidied her cooking area. It seemed like Artemis and Wally hadn't arrived yet.

"Hey guys," Dick called out jovially, claiming the seat at the end of the table and stealing a bite of something off Superboy's plate. It was blue, and chewy, and tasted faintly of egg salad, but it wasn't awful. She'd been attempting Martian/Human fusion recipes for awhile and seemed to have gotten the hang of it.

"Robin!" M'gann floated up to him, beaming cheerfully. Kaldur greeted him serenely with a calm 'Hello, my friend', and Conner nodded in his direction silently – all very typical. They talked about training and their individual adventures with their mentors until Artemis strolled in fifteen minutes later. Black Canary arrived another five minutes after that.

Wally still wasn't there by the time their den mother called them into the training room.

That was _not_ typical. It was a universal fact that the Flash was always tardy, and it was equally well known that Kid Flash hated this about his mentor. Wally was always on time, if not early, for everything. Dick pulled up his gauntlet computer, which was integrated with his cell phone, and checked his messages.

Wally had never responded to his text from that morning. The messaging system was showing that he hadn't even seen it yet.

An entirely unpleasant knot slowly pulled at his insides when he looked at the softly glowing zero in his inbox. Then he mentally shook himself and flicked off the holoscreen. Kid Mouth had probably just left his phone at home. Just in case, though, Dick sent him another text, fingers flying over the buttons on his glove.

_Dude where r u? Forget about trning?_

He turned his attention to the arena then where Dinah was demonstrating a complex hold breaker on Superboy. Conner's super strength was only an advantage for five brief seconds before Dinah bucked suddenly and threw him over her head. He went down hard, recovering much more quickly than the first time Black Canary had schooled them on hand to hand combat. She walked them through the steps once more and watched over them intently as they practiced.

Half an hour into the lesson, Wally _still_ hadn't showed, and there weren't any messages in Dick's e-mail either. Black Canary had finally had enough as well and sternly demanded to know if any of them knew where he was. Her foot tapped the ground impatiently, and her arms were tightly crossed over her chest.

M'gann shook her head solemnly from the floor where Artemis had unceremoniously tossed her moments before.

"No idea," the blonde replied flippantly, rolling her shoulders in an uncaring fashion. "If Kid Mouth wants to play hooky from practice, then let him. It'll be his own fault if we have to mop him up off the floor after a fight."

Dick ground his teeth to keep himself from snapping at her. He knew Artemis was only being a bitch because she was in heavy denial over her feelings for Wally. It was usually funny, but not right now – not when his skin was crawling and his instincts kept up a running hum of unease. "I don't know. He isn't answering any of my calls."

A slight crease appeared between Dinah's eyes, and she pressed two fingers to her ear, "Black Canary to Kid Flash. Respond."

Dick wasn't even looking at Kaldur, whom he was supposed to be sparring with. His eyes were glued to their den mother instead as she waited silently for a reply. Superboy was also listening intently, and Dick had no doubt that his teammate would be able to hear every word from Black Canary's earpiece.

"Kid Flash. _Respond_."

Black Canary sighed wearily and closed the communicator channel, "No answer. We don't have time to wait for him any longer. He'll just have to catch up when he gets here."

The uneasy knot returned in Dick's stomach full force, and he clenched his fingers anxiously. His cell phone was one thing, but Wally never went anywhere without his communicator.

"Can't you try the Flash?" Conner asked forcefully, refusing Black Canary's attempts to resume their fight. "Maybe something happened in Central that he needed Wally's help for."

"Flash is off planet with Green Lantern and Wonder Woman on a mission right now," she replied with a slow shake of her head. "Kid Flash wouldn't be with him."

And with that knowledge, the whole team fell silent. Dick didn't know if they were all feeling the same building dread that he was, but everyone suddenly looked much more worried with the most likely excuse for Kid Flash's absence ruled out. Black Canary sensed this in an instant and dropped out of her drill sergeant mode.

"Look, Batman won't be happy that I cut training short today, but why don't you all hit the showers while I try to contact Kid Flash again," she put a consoling hand on Superboy's shoulder and jerked her thumb to the training room's second exit which housed the lockers and expansive showers. "I'll notify you all the second I know something."

M'gann and Kaldur both seemed to calm visibly at this suggestion and complied immediately. Artemis started grumbling about how Wally was going to pay for making her lose valuable training time with one of the League's best combat experts, but at the same time her tone lacked its usual bite. Dick guessed that she was secretly a little relieved as well.

Neither Conner nor Dick moved an inch.

Black Canary gave them both a reassuring and understanding smile, and then disappeared from the training room.

"You think something's wrong," Conner stated quietly as soon as they were alone.

Dick knew it wasn't really a question, but he nodded anyway, "I just have this really bad feeling. I haven't heard from him all day."

"Do you think he's hurt?"

"I really hope I'm wrong," Dick anxiously fiddled with his cape, something he hadn't done since he was nine. Conner looked down at him with a thoughtful frown and abruptly crossed his arms over his thick chest.

"He's fine," Conner declared loudly as if it would be true just because he'd decided it. "Wally's fine. You know that if he was really in trouble, he could run and no one could catch him."

That was true, Dick reasoned. He latched onto the thought like a lifeline. "Yeah. Plus, he hasn't been Kid Flash at all today. How much trouble could he get into as Wally?"

"He's probably just sick and forgot to call," Conner gave Dick one of his rare smiles. It was meant to further reassure them both, Dick knew, but all previous comfort from his words was gone.

Wally didn't _get_ sick. _Speedsters_ didn't get sick.

Somehow, Superboy seemed to sense that he'd ruined the calm, "Go ahead and clean up. I hardly ever sweat, so I'll stay here and listen."

Dick didn't want to leave.

"I'll come get you the second I hear something," he promised. And Dick knew how much a promise meant to him. It was why Conner was so concerned for Wally. Wally had been the first person to make good on a promise to him. And it had been one hell of a promise. He'd promised him the moon.

Dick wasn't happy about it, but he left to trudge his way nervously to the showers. His insides roiled furiously, and his whole body seemed to tremble with unease at the idea that something was _wrong_. If Bruce were here, he would call it intuition. Dick worked methodically to keep himself from losing it. He stripped down in the shower cubicle and turned on the freezing jets. The others were almost done by now, and Dick could hear them moving around the locker room talking in hushed tones. He scrubbed up as fast as he could and barely dried himself before suiting up again.

Near manic with worry, Dick pulled out his gauntlet computer and checked his messages.

Wally still hadn't replied.

For a brief moment, he almost lost his cool, but years spent training under Batman had taught him to control his emotions. So, he took off at a run for the mission briefing room and desperately smothered his rising panic.

The whole team was gathered there, including Black Canary. No one was panicking, or openly weeping, so that was a good sign. However, they all still looked terribly confused.

"No word yet?" Dick asked, mildly impressed with himself that he didn't let his voice shake.

Conner met his eyes immediately and shook his head.

Black Canary terminated the call she was attempting and frowned at the expansive holographic monitor displayed above them, "Elongated Man hasn't seen him either…" She said this rather pensively, unconsciously chewing at her bottom lip. "I've tried his house, all his emergency contacts, all of Flash's allies that know him… His school said that he never showed up today."

"I didn't know Wally knew Elongated Man," M'gann said quietly and looked around to Dick for an explanation.

"When the Flash was just starting out, he'd team up with Elongated Man and Green Lantern sometimes," Dick told her quietly, remembering his own questions to Batman years ago about the pair of speedsters from Central City. "None of us really get to see it, but they're pretty close."

M'gann opened her mouth to say something, but right then, the zeta tubes flared to life and the computer announced the arrival of Batman. Dick whipped around instantly and sent his mentor the most silently desperate look he could manage without alerting the others. The moment Bruce's eyes locked with his beneath the cowl, his body tensed minutely, and he quickened his pace.

"What happened?" he demanded of Dick immediately. Black Canary responded briskly before any of the team could answer.

"Kid Flash is AWOL and I can't get hold of him or anyone who knows where he is," she told him very seriously. "Everyone I've spoken to says he was supposed to be here."

Bruce appeared to take in the information and process it very carefully before glancing down at Dick. For one terrifying moment, he was afraid that his mentor would write it off as Wally being irresponsible and ditching, but Bruce was Batman, and Batman never took anything at face value.

He was silently asking Dick his opinion.

"I think something's wrong," Dick spoke up immediately. "I _feel_ like it is."

Bruce nodded almost imperceptibly and strode to the large holo computer in the middle of the room. His hands flew over the keyboard expertly, and within seconds, Wally's League file was being displayed above their heads, blown up to massive size.

His picture glowed softly in the cave's natural dim, wide smile, green eyes crinkled in glee, and shining, fiery red hair sticking out at all angles because you just can't do anything with it at mach 5.

Seeing Wally's face, even just a crappy League mugshot of it, somehow managed to calm Dick's frantic nerves a little. He took a deep breath and imagined Wally there next to him. Safe. Not missing.

"Computer," Bruce said sharply. "Locate Kid Flash, designation B-03."

Wally's photo shrank down into one corner of the screen, and a spinning replica of the Earth appeared front and center. It rotated to North America and expanded to zoom in on the Midwest. The world's edges were pushed aside, and the borders of Missouri took their place. A tiny red dot appeared right next to the border of Kansas, and the screen automatically centered it and came to a stop.

"Enlarge," Bruce's hands were at the controls again. The image expanded to show county lines. He clicked another holo-key, and the dot became Central City limits.

The zooming halted abruptly, and a large box of text appeared in the middle of the screen saying that further tracking was restricted. It was asking for a password, and Bruce wasted no time complying.

"Authorization: Batman – Designation-02. Password is 253733-7424273-91939."

The text box disappeared, and the city expanded to detailed streets and buildings. The solid colors became textured, and traffic could be seen slowly moving along the roadways. The dot marking Wally's location was soon revealed to be surrounded by a rather spacious residential area about fifteen miles from the city limits. The screen zoomed in on one block in particular, and then one house on the corner.

Dick finally relaxed, and his relief almost took him to his knees. Wally was at home. He was fine.

However, Bruce's expression of grim concern stayed fixed firmly on his face. His fingers typed a few commands, and the overhead view blacked out while an entirely different camera feed fired up, this time with a view of the front yard from _inside_ the house.

It took a few moments, but Dick's teammates quickly deduced what this new picture meant. Predictably, it was Artemis who spoke up first, and she was livid, "You have cameras in his _house_?!"

"It's a security measure," Bruce explained coolly, hands now moving to separate controls on the console. The camera's view jerked suddenly and gently bobbed up and down like it was floating. "The Flash is well aware of it, as well as Kid Flash's parents. Flash was the one who installed it."

This was news to Dick. He wondered if there were any in the manor. Surely not in the batcave? Bruce was far too paranoid to allow that.

"Is there one in all of our homes?!" she raged on furiously.

Without looking at or answering her, Bruce controlled the mobile camera. It steadily rotated so that Wally's living room was centered on the screen. The room looked largely undisturbed, which was a good sign. There was, however, a large standing lamp turned on in one corner of the room, despite it being broad daylight outside. The rest of the room was as Dick remembered it. He had been there before a few times, but usually any sleepovers happened at Barry and Iris' place.

Bruce's camera thoroughly swept over the whole room and examined every crevice before he directed it to fly into the kitchen. That's when Dick's stomach dropped into his knees.

The camera ventured into the small dining room connected to the kitchen and panned around. Dick could see the familiar table and chairs, clearly set for three, filled with bowls and dishes of food that looked…old, like they had been sitting there a while. The cups on the table were full, but every plate and utensil was clean.

In the background, they could see part of the kitchen. The large tiled island stood in the middle of the room, in front of the fridge, stove, sink, and cabinets. The kitchen light was on as well. Everything was clean and tidy just like Mrs. West usually kept it, save for a few pots and pans still sitting on the stove and the large spray of blood across the fridge.

Bruce immediately flew the camera into the kitchen, and a few more things became visible – like the bloody smear on the counter, and the pool of blood spilling out from behind one side of the island, and the two feet protruding from the other end. The camera navigated around the island, and the lens angled at the floor where Mrs. West was lying on her side in the pool of her own blood. Dick couldn't see her face, but he could tell that she wasn't moving.

M'gann gasped, and both hands flew to her mouth in horror. The others were all too stunned to even breathe. Even Bruce and Black Canary were visibly shocked, though their superior training and experience snapped them out of it within seconds.

Black Canary wrested communications controls from her side of the computer, and she sent out an emergency transmission, "Cave to Watchtower, come in!"

Half a second later, a small section of the holoscreen opened a live feed of the Watchtower's monitor room. Mister Terrific was at the other end, his T-shaped mask crinkled in some concern, "Watchtower. What is it, Black Canary?"

"Send out a League-wide SOS _now!_ " she barked. "Tell all available members in the vicinity of Central City to head to these coordinates as fast as possible. We have a family member injured, possibly dead. Prep the med bay immediately! Advise that there may be more injured!"

Dick could hear Bruce opening his own emergency transmissions at the same time, but he could barely even think right. Wally's mom had been attacked. She had been all laughs and big smiles the last time Dick had been over to stay. She had even hugged him and thanked him for being such a good friend to Wally – for being his best friend. And now she was… Did that mean Mr. West was hurt as well? It looked like Mrs. West had been lying there for hours. If no one had noticed her there or tried to help in any way, then that meant… Wally's tracker said he was in the house. Why hadn't he tried to help his mother yet? Was he-?

"Computer," Bruce growled out furiously. "Send out an emergency SOS transmission to the following: Jay Garrick – location Keystone City, Kansas; Max Crandall – location Manchester, Alabama; and Jonathan Chambers – location Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Send the following message: Flash Family alert. Respond to fixed coordinates immediately."

Mister Terrific was slightly off screen now, dispatching League members. Black Canary was trying to contact Barry again, but her signals all bounced back undelivered. She gave a great snarl of frustration, "Terrific, get a message to Flash. Tell him to get planetside _now_!"

"I won't be able to get in contact with him, Canary. He's still on Korugar with Green Lantern and Won-"

" _NOW_!" Black Canary thundered. Dick almost flinched at the fury in her tone. He had seen her intense before in fights, of course, but this was more than a little frightening. She looked ready to reach through the screen and strangle someone.

Mister Terrific hesitated, clearly rattled by her state of distress. "I'll do my best," he conceded before the line went dead.

Black Canary looked to Batman then, her expression beyond worry. Her eyes flickered back to Mrs. West's still body on the screen for a moment, and then she stepped back to give up the controls. M'gann was near panic by this time, so Black Canary curled an arm around her shoulders and drew the young Martian close to her side. Kaldur watched the screen silently, his expression severe and his tattoos flaring involuntarily with power. Conner had much the same look that Dick imagined was on his own face: dread and helpless fear. He had both thick hands on Artemis' shoulders to keep her upright. The blonde archer had her hands clamped firmly over her mouth and tears beginning to overflow in her eyes.

Bruce had his back to them all, so Dick couldn't see his face, but by the urgency and swiftness with which he scanned the rest of the kitchen and adjacent laundry room, Dick could tell that his adoptive father was rattled. The camera zoomed through the rest of the first floor haphazardly and headed to the staircase leading to the second. That's when the entire world seemed to end.

Dick saw it all in a curious sort of slow motion. The first part of Wally that the camera revealed was his foot, clad in an obnoxious yellow sneaker with red laces and a crudely drawn red lightning bolt that Dick had done himself. The shoes had been a birthday gift from Roy and Ollie. They were from S.T.A.R. Labs and made from a brand new material that was meant to withstand supersonic speeds. Dick remembered everything about the shoes, because Wally had been ecstatic that he wouldn't have to buy a new pair every few weeks. He had excitedly suggested that Dick get matching Robin shoes so that they could swap the left ones and be 'super bros for life'. Dick had called him an idiot, because it was a dumb idea. And they absolutely did not have the same shoe size. And it was a dumb idea.

The other shoe came into view, both resting on different steps at strange angles, and then came Wally's legs. One was bent at the knee, leaning against the wall beneath the railing, and the other was resting on its side on the wooden steps, the jeans all but soaked black with blood. The dark liquid was pooled on that step like it had dripped down from the one above it, and as the camera continued to travel up the staircase, Dick saw more blood smeared everywhere and then Wally's hand hanging off the next step. His red smeared fingers were half curled inwards and motionless as a statue. The rest of his arm was just as still, and then the other arm appeared, lying across his waist.

The rest of Wally's torso was brought into view then, and Dick didn't think it was real. He was wearing a light green t-shirt that was at least eighty percent soaked in blood. The clinging fabric was torn in three places by bullet holes, one by his left hip and two near center mass. Under any other circumstances, the bullet wounds alone would have stolen Dick's attention and held it forever, but it was the large chef's knife halfway buried in his best friend's chest that won the prize.

The camera showed the rest of Wally then, completely sprawled out on the staircase at unnatural angles. There was yet another bullet wound right through the hollow at the base of his throat that looked like it had been the one to bleed the most. Wally's head was tilted to the side, almost completely untouched aside for a few splotches of dried blood on his jaw. His mouth was just slightly open; Dick could barely see his teeth. His bright hair stuck out all over just like it always did, and his eyes were open, staring at the wall in blank shock – his pretty green eyes that were Dick's absolute favorite color.

They weren't shining. They weren't crinkled at the edges because Wally was smiling too hard. They weren't sparkling with mischief. They were vacant, and hard, and dead.

His eyes were dead.

 _Wally_ was dead.

Dick felt the floor come rushing up to meet him as his legs gave out. The shock plates in his knee guards cracked loudly when they hit, but not as loudly as M'gann screamed. The world returned to normal speed, and Dick could hear Artemis sobbing now and Batman yelling something at Black Canary before the woman handed M'gann over to Kaldur and sprinted out of the room.

Bruce's camera continued to examine the damage, but Dick could no longer process what was on the screen. He was stuck in Wally's eyes, trying to understand how they could be so abruptly different…without any life in them.

The camera left Wally's body and the staircase then and traveled up to the landing. It ducked into the tiny side bathroom and then floated into Wally's room that Dick had been in countless times. This room, surprisingly, was _not_ empty. At the foot of the bed right next to the door sat Wally's dad. He had his head turned down, exposing his rust colored hair, and legs set apart wide with his elbows resting on his knees. One large hand rubbed at his face wearily while the other hung towards the ground, tightly clutching a silver handgun.

Bruce maneuvered the camera a little closer, and the low hum of the machine alerted Mr. West to its existence. His head snapped up abruptly, and he glanced around in bewilderment before settling on the floating camera. The dark glare that Wally's father gave them all shook Dick to his core. He didn't understand. If Mr. West was alive and unhurt, then why hadn't he called an ambulance for his family? If he had a gun, why hadn't he defended them?

Then, Mr. West jumped to his feet and, with a strangled and animalistic roar, shot at the camera twice before the gun ran out of ammo. Even then, he kept squeezing the trigger in fury before taking actual swipes at the camera with the gun. Bruce deftly kept the machine out of his reach and moved it to hover opposite the doorway where Dick could still see Wally lying on the stairs.

" _Get out of my house!_ " he screamed at the camera, bloodshot eyes wide with madness. He whipped around to yell at his son's body then, brandishing the gun wildly at the camera drone. " _Get them out of my fucking house!_ "

Dick didn't understand. Had he lost his mind? Why was he shouting and pointing the gun at Wally?

" _I told you not to bring them here! They aren't allowed in MY house!"_

Dick didn't know who 'they' were. Mr. West couldn't see any of them in the cave, and he certainly had no idea who could be operating the tiny camera right now.

Mr. West continued to scream at his son's body for a few more seconds before collapsing to his knees and panting to catch his breath. His entire face was beet red and the veins on the side of his neck were bulging out alarmingly.

Then they all heard a loud pounding on wood from downstairs and a man's voice yell something too muffled to understand. Mr. West's head snapped up at the noise, and he glared distrustfully down the stairwell from his spot on the floor. The frantic pounding sounded again when there came no response to it. Dick could hear a man's voice yell something indecipherable once more.

Next there came a loud bang and the sound of splintering wood before the telltale whoosh of air that accompanied super speed. "Mary! Rudy! Is anyone here?"

The high speed rush of air zoomed through the rooms in the first floor, every now and then punctuated by a shout of 'Wally!' or 'Answer me, kid!' 'Mary! Rudy!'

Then, all sound downstairs stopped, and Dick could guess that whoever had shown up just found Mrs. West's body in the kitchen.

Things were dead quiet for a few long seconds before a pale colored blur appeared at the foot of the stairs. It froze in place to reveal an older man who looked to be in his seventies with dark brown hair streaked with grey at the temples. He was hard to see clearly in the shadow of the stairway, but the shock and alarm on his wrinkled face was unmistakable. His dark blue eyes were fixed on Wally and rapidly filling with dismay.

"Who is that?" Conner croaked suddenly. Everyone looked at him in surprise, and even the young clone looked startled that he had spoken out loud.

"Jay Garrick," Batman said through a forced calm voice. "He was the first Flash."

And someone who Dick knew for a fact was like a grandfather to Wally.

As if to emphasize his silent thought, Jay slowly made his way up the steps, his expression contorted in extreme disbelief and anguish. He knelt down on one knee beside Wally and brought two shaking fingers up to the young teen's neck to check for a pulse. Jay gently took both sides of Wally's face and tilted his head so he was looking up at the ceiling now, "Wally…?"

"Oh, no," he moaned miserably, one hand fluttering unsurely over the horrible wounds decorating Wally's chest. Jay reached up and grasped the handle of the knife. The blade made a sickening wet sound as it was pulled out, and Jay laid it on the step above Wally's head. The older speedster shook his head slowly as if in denial of what he was seeing. He pulled Wally's torso close to him and cradled the teen's head and shoulders in his arms. "No… No, not you… oh kid. Wally…"

It was at that moment, hearing his son's name and seeing Jay now covered in his blood, that Mr. West decided to snap again.

"Wally, I've told you a hundred times," he growled out through gritted teeth, slowly standing upright again. "Keep these damn _freaks_ out of this house!"

Jay's head snapped up in surprise, and he stared at Wally's father with wide eyes, looking more astonished at the sight of him than the words he had spoken, "Rudy!?"

Then, the older speedster's eyes settled on the gun in Mr. West's hand and the madness written all over his face. Jay's eyes flickered down to the bullet wounds in Wally's chest, then back to Mr. West right as a second speedster zoomed into view at the foot of the stairs, "Rudy, what have you done…?"

This second speedster was grey-haired with light blue eyes and looked to be about the same age as Jay. He too froze when he saw the three people in the stairwell, and his mouth dropped open in shock, "What happened?!"

Jay didn't pay the newcomer any attention, instead fixing Mr. West with the most terrifying glare Dick had ever seen. His hands gripped Wally's shoulder convulsively, and the young speedster's head lolled back lifelessly like a rag doll. " _Rudy! What have you done?!_ "

The elderly speedster's voice was so deep and thick with rage that Mr. West visibly flinched back before regaining some courage and hurling the gun at Jay's face. With a blur of motion, the second speedster was suddenly at the top of the stairs between Mr. West and Jay. He snatched the gun out of the air and fixed Wally's father with an equally vicious stare, " _You_ did this?!"

Then all of a sudden, everything clicked together, and it all hit Dick in the face like a bomb going off. Mr. West had shot him. Wally's own father had stabbed him. He could feel his eyes and mouth dropping open in horror.

"He made me!" Mr. West screamed at them, eyes popping out and spittle flying from the corners of his mouth like a mad dog. He crouched into a sloppy defensive stance when the second speedster advanced on him threateningly. "He was already such a failure! Such a disappointment! Ever since he was a toddler, he always had his head in the damn clouds! And he was always such a genius. All his teachers called him a prodigy, but I called him a _freak_! No kid should be that smart. And then he comes zipping home one day with my little sister's _'saint'_ of a husband, and all of a sudden he's got super speed and he's even _more_ of a freak! Oh! And fucking _Allen_ wants to teach him how to be a 'hero' – more like he wants to steal my worthless son away from me."

Both speedsters seemed to be speechless at his words. Jay looked down at Wally's body and tears were now streaming silently down his face. Sometime during Mr. West's rant, a third speedster had entered the home and was standing at the foot of the stairs listening. He was staring at them all, taking in the scene grimly. This one looked marginally younger than Jay, with wavy blond hair and the same blue eyes.

When Mr. West stopped talking, the blond newcomer zipped to the grey-haired speedster's side and completely blocked Wally and Jay from the camera's view, "You killed your own son because he was 'too smart'?!"

" _He gave me no choice! I've been trying to fix him since he was five, but he just wouldn't learn!"_ Mr. West was nearly foaming at the mouth again.

The second speedster made to lunge at him, but Jay stopped him with a word.

"Max!"

Both speedsters turned around, leaving an opening for the camera. Jay was standing now with Wally's body in his arms. The youngest speedster's head was resting against Jay's shoulder, empty eyes still staring eerily into nothing. Jay glared darkly past them both, "Max, grab Mary and run her to the Central zeta transport tube. She's in the kitchen. Johnny, stay here with Rudy until the JLA arrives. If Batman contacted us, then they're already on their way. Max and I will be taking Wally and Mary to the Watchtower med bay. Have one of the Leaguers bring you there after they take Rudy into custody. Do _not_ let the police have him if they get here first for some reason."

"The med bay?" The grey-haired speedster named Max questioned suddenly.

"Mary might not be dead, and I can try to save Wally with the equipment there."

Dick immediately perked up at those words.

'-save Wally-'

But…he was dead, wasn't he? No one could survive something like that. He watched intently while both speedsters seemed to have the same thought. Max looked at Jay sympathetically and wilted a little as his anger was replaced with pity.

"Jay-"

"I've brought Barry back from a stopped heart before," Jay carefully readjusted Wally's body in his arms.

This time, the blond speedster looked at him like he was out of his mind, "A stopped heart, sure, but _this_ …"

"Max, get Mary now," Jay growled and the silver haired speedster zoomed down the stairs without another word. "I mean it, Johnny. No one but the League gets him."

"You got it, old friend," the blond spun around and delivered a sucker punch to Mr. West that brought him to his knees with a loud grunt. A heartbeat later, Jay and Wally were gone.

And once he saw that, Wally's father went ballistic, screaming and fighting to chase after them. Two rapid hits from Johnny, and he was out cold on the floor. The older speedster glared down at him silently with barely suppressed rage.

" _Recognize: Red Tornado- 16"_

The whole team whirled around when the Cave computer's voice announced the arrival of their first den mother of sorts. Half a second later, Batman left the controls and ran to the zeta tubes before Red Tornado had even had time to step out. Abruptly stricken with terror at being left behind, Dick sprinted after him and grabbed his mentor and father's arm. Bruce reeled back to stare at him in surprise, "Robin, stay here with your team. I will notify the Cave once we know what's happening."

"No, please!" he begged desperately, something that was so out of character for him.

"I'm going to the Watchtower. You cannot-"

" _Please_ ," Dick's voice dropped to a whisper. "Batman, please. He's my best friend. He-he's like my brother. Please let me come with. I _can't_ wait here. _Please_ …"

Bruce stared back at him silently for exactly five seconds before taking Dick's shoulder and pushing him gently into the zeta tube. He punched in a few codes and commands before activating the zeta beam and throwing one look back at Red Tornado, "Stay with the Team until further notice. Put them under orders to stay at Mt. Justice. I will send updates as soon as I get them."

" _Recognize: Batman – 02, Robin – B01"_

In one blinding flash of light, the cave was left behind, and the brightly lit medical bay of the Watchtower took its place. Batman was running before the computer had even begun to recognize them, Dick hot on his heels. He had been on the Watchtower once before, and he'd even helped Bruce design several of its security measures, but it never ceased to amaze him whenever he saw it. This time, however, Dick was not in the frame of mind for awe. He followed Bruce numbly through the maze of hallways, realizing only too late that he was probably crying – if the concerned looks he was getting from passing Leaguers were anything to go by. Dick scrubbed at his face self-consciously and almost ran smack into Bruce when he stopped at the doors of Surgical Room 1F.

Dick looked up at him questioningly, and his gaze was drawn to the two women sitting side by side in the waiting chairs outside the ward. Black Canary spotted them and looked up the second they drew near. She'd removed her blue jacket and draped it over the shoulders of the woman sitting beside her. The second woman's shoulders were hunched and jerking with sobs as Black Canary tried to comfort her. Her face was covered with her hands, but Dick would have recognized her anywhere. She had the exact same shade of red hair and green eyes that were identical to her nephew's.

Wally's aunt, Iris.

Of course she had been the one Black Canary had gone to get.

"Batman," the blonde stood to greet them both with a deep frown.

Iris looked up then too and also shot to her feet, approaching Bruce with a boldness that even few League members dared, much less civilians, "What do you know? Who did this to him?!"

Never one to sugarcoat the truth, Bruce looked her steadily in the eyes when he spoke, "His father."

Surprise and disbelief blossomed across her face, and Iris staggered a few steps back. Black Canary's jaw dropped open in shock and she blinked rapidly, then shook her head to clear it, " _What_?!"

"Jay and Max just ran them both in here a few minutes ago," Iris protested. "They would have told me something if that was true!"

"Wally was stabbed once in the chest and shot four times," Bruce told her patiently in an even voice. "Your brother was holding the gun."

Iris gave a strangled cry, and her knees almost gave out on her, Dick could tell, but she slammed one hand against the wall and stubbornly kept herself upright. She wiped at her face with the other hand and drew in a shaky breath to steady herself. "Why would my brother hurt his family? He loves Mary more than anything. And, Wally- God, Wally is his-"

"The way his father was screaming at his body and the things he said made it sound like he'd, at the very least, strongly resented Wally since he was a young child," Bruce countered, again keeping the anger out of his voice to try and make her understand. "Many of the things he said hinted at abuse, which I _will_ be investigating as soon as he is brought here."

Iris shook her head slowly, more in hurt disbelief than in rejection of Batman's words. Her voice was barely a whisper, "Abuse… Wally has _never_ said _anything_ about… _Mary_ wouldn't let anyone hurt her son…"

She sank into a chair as the news became too much for her to handle. Black Canary wrapped both arms around Iris' shoulders and spoke in a very quiet voice, "That doesn't mean anything. Nine out of ten cases of child abuse go unreported. His mother might not have even known if Rudy was a good enough actor to fool you and Flash."

Iris looked up again at hearing her husband's alias, "Have you heard anything else about how close Barry is?"

"We came straight here from the cave," Bruce shook his head regretfully. Iris scrubbed at her temples in extreme stress.

"Terrific was waiting with an update for us when I brought Iris here," Black Canary told Bruce quietly, gently rubbing Iris' back in soothing circles. "Watchtower logs have a transmission from Diana that came in seven hours ago. She reported that they were on their return trip to Earth. We're still unable to establish contact with them, but Terrific figures that at Hal's top speed with two passengers, they're an hour and a half away. They won't have any idea what's happened until they get here."

Bruce nodded silently, taking in all the information. He placed a gauntleted hand on Dick's shoulder and guided him to one of the waiting chairs, "You will wait here until I return. Jay Garrick and Max Mercury are trying to save Wally, and they _cannot_ have any interruptions. J'onn is in there as well as Dr. Mid-Nite, and they are doing everything they can."

Dick nodded, giving his father his undivided attention.

He tapped the communicator in his cowl once, "Superman just arrived with West. I'm going to get everything I can out of him, and then I'll be back." He was leaving a second later, disappearing around the corner with a rustle of his cape. Dick listened until his footsteps fade away as well, and then he turned his attention to Wally's aunt.

Black Canary jerked her head at him in an invitation to move closer, so he took the seat on the other side of Iris and tentatively took her hand. She looked up at him at the contact and gave him a small, watery smile. Dick tried to return it with one of his own, but he didn't think it worked; his face was _so_ numb. Iris reached out and smoothed his hair back in a manner that was heart wrenchingly familiar to how his mother used to comfort him when he was small, "I'm glad you're here, Robin."

Dick didn't know what to say. He didn't think he had any energy left for speaking anyways, so he just squeezed Iris' hand and listened to her talk.

"You're such a good friend to Wally – you and Roy," she said quietly. At the mention of Roy, Dick tensed and looked up. Had anyone told him? He would be beyond livid if his little brother died and he was the last to know. Black Canary met his gaze and gave the tiniest of nods that Green Arrow was already looking for him. "I was _so_ happy when Wally was born. I was only thirteen, and I'd wanted to be an auntie so badly. Mary was so sweet about it. She let me hold him all the time and let me come over to see him whenever I wanted. And when I got older and got my own place, Mary let him stay the night almost every weekend. I think she and Ru-… I think they just liked the free babysitting, but I loved getting to spend so much time with my nephew."

Iris went quiet for a few long minutes, and Dick took the time to mull over everything she had said. He remembered Wally talking about how close he and his aunt were. He'd even said before that she was like a second mother to him.

"When I got married, I was so glad that he and Barry got along so well. He took Wally to a science museum the first weekend we had him over, and he was sold," Iris began again. Dick actually smiled at that. He could completely imagine ten year old Wally nerding out all over an entire museum. "Then he found out who his uncle really was, and then came the accident… And I felt like his whole life up till then, I'd never really known him as well as I thought I did, because I _never_ saw him as excited as the day he got his powers. I remember literally running out on a field assignment when I got the call that he was in the hospital and being absolutely terrified that my little boy was going to die at age ten. God, poor Barry blamed himself _forever_. But that's when I realized that for a long time I'd been wishing that I was Wally's mom instead of just his aunt. I just loved him so much, and the fact that we look exactly alike was perfect. Sometimes when we went out, I would even have strangers assume that I _was_ his mother…"

She fell silent again, and Dick had the feeling that she was still reliving all those moments in her head. Iris seemed like she was mostly talking to herself when she spoke, which was fine with Dick. He would rather sit and listen to her reminisce than agonize over his best friend's not beating heart.

A full hour passed in this fashion before they had any word on Wally's condition. Dick's legs were going numb, and Iris had long since squeezed any and all feeling from his hand. Black Canary had been leaning forward in her chair with her hands clasped and held to her forehead like she was praying. Dick was just about to stand up and stretch his legs for the fourth time when the ward doors opened and Jay stepped out with the Martian Manhunter. All three of them shot to their feet at the sight, and Dick held his breath, trying desperately to read J'onn's expression.

But he didn't need to try. Jay's face held enough grief for an answer. Dick didn't even need them to say what happened.

They hadn't been able to revive his best friend.

"Iris…" Jay approached her mournfully, his face streaked with tears. "I'm so sor-"

"No," she tried to back away from him, shaking her head furiously as her expression crumpled and her heart broke. "Jay, tell me it worked. Please…"

"I'm so sorry," he enveloped her in a tight hug, and Iris clung right back, now completely breaking down in wracking sobs.

"I am regretful of your loss," J'onn spoke calmly in his too formal way. "Dr. Mid-Nite and I tried everything we could to save him. We replaced the coagulated blood in his veins with fresh-"

Black Canary shook her head severely at him and moved to Dick's side to place a warm hand on his shoulder, "Not now, J'onn. Please."

Dick couldn't breathe anymore. He felt his chest desperately heaving for air but none of the relief that came with it. An odd ringing started at the base of his skull, and his heart suddenly felt like Superman was squeezing it as hard as he could. It didn't really click that he was having a panic attack until Black Canary moved directly in front of him and gripped both sides of his face, fixing him with a calm but urgent stare.

"Breathe, Robin," she coaxed gently. "Take a deep breath."

He tried to follow her words but honestly couldn't tell if he was succeeding or not, and now there was a rushing of air in his ears that he couldn't explain.

"I'm sorry," she brushed a tear from his face mask. "Losing your best friend…its-"

The rush of air became louder, and everyone turned to look at the end of the hallway. One second later, a red blur skidded to a hasty stop, and then Flash was standing at the corner, vibrating so hard that he looked like he was about to shake apart.

Jay stepped back from Iris right as Flash spotted them. Impossibly fast, he blurred to his wife's side, cowl pulled back and expression beyond frantic. Barry took Iris' arms and stared at her intensely, blues eyes still sparking with energy.

"He's gone," Iris barely managed to whisper. Barry's head whipped around to look at the older speedster for confirmation, and Jay nodded solemnly.

"Where is he?" Barry finally spoke, and his voice was raw and choked. It was nothing like the pleasant, laid back Midwestern drawl Dick was used to associating with his best friend's uncle.

"In here," Jay pushed the double doors open a crack and waited calmly as his successor glanced at his wife to gauge her state.

But Iris removed Barry's hands from her shoulders and pushed him towards the doors, still shaking with anguish, "Go. Please. One of us should be in there."

Both Barry and Jay disappeared then, and, before he had time realize he was moving, Dick ducked out of Black Canary's grasp and slipped through the slowly closing doors before anyone could stop him. He sprinted after both Flashes and stopped right before the surgical room they both zipped into. Instead, he ducked into the observation room beside it in hopes that no one would notice him.

It was a mistake. Max Mercury was there, leaning heavily against one wall and staring with weary sorrow through the glass partition separating the rooms. The elderly speedster looked directly at him when he stepped up to the glass in horrified fascination. Dick could see Wally lying motionless on a covered table. His eyes stared sightlessly at the ceiling, and Dick had to quickly glance away from them and their emptiness. His shirt had been cut away and all of the blood cleaned from his neck and upper body. The bullet and stab wounds had been closed somehow – Dick couldn't tell from this distance – and an endotracheal tube had been shoved down his throat and taped in place over his mouth. An IV line fed into one arm while the other was hooked up to a blood transfusion. A series of monitor sensors were taped to his chest and ribs and clipped to his fingers, all reporting the same flatline. No heartbeat, no brain activity… No breathing, no laughing, no stupid jokes and endless flirting, no playful teasing, no smiles. Dick knew all of the things that made Wally who he was, and they were all gone.

"Robin, right?" Max spoke suddenly, jarring Dick from his trance. He answered with a shaky nod, feeling tears falling softly from his face. "You shouldn't have to see this."

He didn't make any moves to usher Dick from the room though. Max just turned back to the glass and flicked a switch beside the glass that turned on the speaker connecting the two rooms. Together, they watched silently as Barry approached his nephew.

The young speedster moved to Wally's side in a blink and stretched a violently shaking hand out to touch his nephew's cheek. Dick could only imagine how cold he must be by now. Barry brushed Wally's hair back from his forehead and eyed the closed wounds with a lost expression.

"Wally…" he choked out quietly, the speaker built into the wall distorting his voice just a bit. "Kid, what…? Who did this to you?"

Dick snapped his head around to stare at Max in disbelief. No one had told him? Max shook his head slowly back and forth, "He doesn't need to know right now. We'll give him as long as he needs with Wally before we send him down the war path."

Dr. Mid-Nite took his place at the opposite side of the table from Barry, who had his head bowed now. He watched silently and waited as Barry took one of Wally's hands and covered it tightly with both of his own. Then, Barry gave him a small, reluctant nod.

"He had three gunshot wounds to the torso: one bullet passed through cleanly, but the other two needed to be removed. One nicked a kidney, and the other punctured his left lung, damaging it quite severely. I repaired both organs, as well as a three and a half inch stab wound to the same lung. The final wound was a throat puncture. The bullet exited cleanly as well, but severed his jugular vein and ruptured the trachea. This was most likely the fatal wound. He would have bled out in seconds with his rapidly accelerated heartbeat," Dr. Mid-Nite ran through everything calmly and with clinical efficiency. To Barry's credit, he took it all much better than Dick had expected. He wondered if it was because Barry was a forensic analyst and was used to seeing dead bodies, but it couldn't possibly have prepared him for seeing his nephew in that position. Dick couldn't see his face, but he could see the way Barry gently ran a gloved thumb along Wally's knuckles.

"Rigor mortis has already released, so I estimate the time of death to be between fifteen and eighteen hours ago given the rough time frame," Dr. Mid-Nite continued. Barry flinched at the words, leaning his elbows on the surgical table and bringing one hand up to cover his eyes. Jay was at his side in a second, resting a hand on the younger speedster's shoulder. Mid-Nite fixed them both with a sympathetic look and gave Barry a few moments to process before speaking again. "J'onn and I replaced the coagulated blood in his veins and began pumping him full of nutrients intravenously, hoping to give him something to burn for energy. Then, we began manually circulating the blood through his heart and brain and defibrillating."

J'onn phased up through the floor and slowly moved to the foot of the table, partially obscuring Dick's view of Wally, "We were unsure of what would result from our efforts, as Kid Flash had clearly been dead for hours, yet his body's cells showed no signs of necrosis or even the first stages of decomposition."

"Nevertheless," Dr. Mid-Nite said hurriedly, obviously concerned that J'onn's dispassionate words might upset Barry. "We did manage to get his heart started twice, once after the first few minutes and again twenty minutes after that, but both times it failed within seconds."

Barry looked up at the League physician suddenly in stunned confusion, "You got his heart to start?"

"Very briefly, but yes. We continued trying to revive him but could not get his heart to beat on its own a third time," Mid-Nite closed his eyes and clasped his hands behind his back respectfully. "Quite frankly, I'm astounded that J'onn and I managed to elicit the few responses that we did. I only wish that it was enough, but sadly the damage was too great. You have my deepest apologies, my friend."

Barry very carefully set Wally's hand back down on the table, and his previously perplexed stare became abruptly hostile. His blue eyes burned with anger, and Dr. Mid-Nite stiffened hesitantly in response. He slowly stalked around the table by Wally's feet, shaking off Jay's hand, "You got his heart to start twice…and then you gave up?"

Both Mid-Nite and J'onn took a few steps back in surprise.

"Barry…" Jay tried to calm him down.

Dr. Mid-Nite held up both gloved hands non-threateningly, "We tried for forty minutes. Allen, I swear to you that I did absolutely everything in my power to try and save your nephew, but it was just too little and much, much too late."

Max suddenly tensed beside Dick and zoomed into the surgical room right as Barry knocked Mid-Nite away from the table faster than his eyes could follow. Both Jay and Max tried to restrain him half-heartedly, the latter of the two zipping over to help the physician back to his feet.

"Allen, I know you're grieving," Mid-Nite shook off the blow without complaint. "But, there's-"

"If you can start his heart twice, then you can do it again," Barry growled furiously. He zipped out of the room and then back to Wally's side in an instant, clutching a syringe. "Jay, I need you to start chest compressions on him. Keep it in time with _our_ heart rates. I'm going to try and shock him awake."

Jay sped to the table and immediately began compressions at a speed that was at least three times faster than what Dick was taught, "You have an idea?"

Barry started vibrating again with a low hum and rubbing his hands together rapidly to create a static charge. Within seconds, electricity was crackling around his hands. "Yep. I'm going to keep at it until he wakes up."

Without a single word, Max hooked Wally back up to the ventilator, turned all of the monitors back on, and stood back a few paces to watch. A high-pitched whine filled the room.

Jay ceased compressions for a half second and made room for Barry to place one palm flat on the upper right side of Wally's chest and one on the left side of his ribcage. He pressed down hard, and Wally's whole body jerked violently at the shock. The monitor registered the jump with a small beep, but went still again right after. Barry removed his hands and immediately began building another charge while Jay resumed CPR.

J'onn phased back through the floor without a single word, but Dr. Mid-Nite took a few hurried steps toward the table before Max flickered over to block his path.

"Flash," he called over Max's shoulder sternly. "Just think about it for a moment! Even if what you're trying wasn't impossible, his brain has been deprived of oxygen for _far_ too long. We're talking permanent damage, here. If he somehow, miraculously revives, he'll be a vegetable."

"I'm _not_ giving up on him!" Barry snarled back viciously, switching out with Jay again to deliver another jolt to Wally's system. The young redhead jerked again, and Jay waited a moment before beginning compressions anew. Mid-Nite was watching it all silently now and eventually gave in and moved out of the way after a long minute.

Barry and Jay continued their methodical cycle nonstop for nearly an hour, during which time Max had replaced the IV bags twice with Dr. Mid-Nite's instruction. Dick was glued to the glass by this time. He hadn't blinked in minutes, and his eyes burned from the pain His face felt tight from old tear tracks, but Dick ignored it all and waited. Barry released another shock into Wally's heart, and Jay moved to place both hands over his chest again when the monitor beeped three times and he froze. Everyone in the room turned to look at the monitor then, and Dick felt his eyes widen.

No one was so much as touching Wally right then, and the monitor beeped again. Dick slammed his hands up against the glass harder than he'd meant to and watched breathlessly as his best friend's heart began beating weakly by itself.

Barry reacted quick as lightning. He snatched the syringe that he'd retrieved earlier and drove the needle into his nephew's chest, pressing the plunger all the way down until the tube was empty and then pulling the needle back out. The effect was instantaneous. Wally's body spasmed violently, and his eyes squeezed shut before flying back open again with a strangled gasp that quickly spiked into a garbled cry of agony. Both Max and Jay looked dumbstruck at the scene while Barry frantically rushed to hold down Wally's jerking limbs.

"Wally!" he cried hoarsely, trying to get his nephew's attention to calm him down. However, Wally didn't seem to really be aware of what was happening. He was choking violently on the plastic tube down his windpipe and thrashing blindly in what had to be extreme pain. All the while, the EKG showed his heart rate spiking and dropping irregularly. The hectic beeping started to decline as Wally's convulsions began to slow.

"Wally, no! Stay awake! Stay with me!" Barry begged frantically. He tried to hold Wally's head still so he wouldn't hurt himself, but the teenager's movements were stilling, and his heart was failing again. Dick's body went ice cold as he watched his best friend's eyes slide shut and his head fall back onto the table with a thud. The monitor quit beeping altogether. He had just died again.

Despair seemed to overtake Barry right then. He cried out for Wally and slammed his fist down on the table with a shuddering sob and then gritted his teeth. Somehow, he forced himself to calm down and disappeared again to grab more syringes of whatever the hell it was that had worked just then. Straight up epinephrine, maybe?

"Jay," he rasped out, taking over the older speedster's spot and beginning compressions again. "He needs food. The IV isn't giving him enough energy to feed on. He needs something solid to metabolize."

Jay zipped out of the room then, and a stunned Dr. Mid-Nite rushed forward to remove the intubation tube and ventilator. The second Jay returned, he handed off the packages of what looked like applesauce or some other mashed up food to Mid-Nite and took over compressions so that Barry could start generating friction again for another shock.

That was when Max returned to the observation room without warning and unceremoniously picked Dick up and sped him back to the doors of the ward where he had originally snuck in.

"No, come on!" he protested desperately, fighting against the elderly speedster to return to where Wally was. "I want to stay there!"

"No," Max said firmly and took Dick's shoulders to face him directly. "You saw what happened in there; we lost him again."

Dick opened his mouth to say that Barry and Jay obviously hadn't given up, but Max held a hand over his mouth to stop him.

" _If_ this works," he continued gravely. "The very same thing will probably happen a few more times before anything changes. And there is absolutely no reason for you to have to see Wally die over and over. You don't fully understand what that will do to you."

Dick didn't know what to say. He didn't know how to convince the fellow hero that he could handle it – that he would be fine if he could just be close to Wally. He wanted to be at his friend's side and do _something_ for him, even if it was just to stand by him. But he honestly didn't know if he really _could_ handle it, so he stayed silent and let Max open the door for him to leave. Dick slowly stepped back into the waiting area, staring down at his shoes and feeling all the pull in the world to turn back around and run to Wally, but also feeling too terrified to stay and watch.

When he finally did look up, he jumped in shock. All of the waiting area chairs were full, and there were still more heroes either sitting on the floor or standing in the now cramped hallway. The first chairs by the door were occupied by Wally's aunt, who looked as though she hadn't moved since he left, and the older blond-haired speedster that had stayed at the West home to see Wally's father taken into League custody. Black Canary and Green Arrow were sitting in the chairs right beside Iris. Directly across from them sat the Elongated Man and both Green Lanterns. Stewart was quietly talking to the blond speedster. Dick thought he remembered Jay calling him 'Johnny'. Hal was hunched over his knees with both hands carding through his hair anxiously and his eyes shut. Dick saw Superman off to the side talking to Bruce, and he could only remember a handful of times that he'd seen the big man so angry.

'That's right', he thought. Clark had been the one to bring Wally's dad in, and he'd most likely stayed for whatever interrogation had followed.

No matter how scary Superman looked at that moment though, he had nothing on Roy.

The volatile archer was agitatedly pacing up and down the aisle of heroes. He was only half dressed in his Red Arrow costume – like he'd been in the middle of either suiting up or down when his mentor found him. He was missing his red and black uniform top, instead clad only in the ultra thin bulletproof vest that we wore underneath. Also absent were one arm guard and his quiver. Under normal circumstances, Dick would have teased the redhead mercilessly about those embarrassing oversights. However, Dick only had to imagine how panicked Roy must have been when he heard the news and look at the current expression of both rage and distress that was on his face now, and it wasn't funny at all.

The door closed with an audible clack behind Dick, causing everyone to look up at him. He immediately locked eyes with Bruce, whom he expected to be upset with him for disobeying orders, but his mentor didn't look angry. He looked abruptly concerned at his appearance. Dick could imagine that he looked frighteningly terrible at the moment.

Iris and Hal also held his attention for a brief time, both looking like they were about to speak, but it was Roy who pivoted suddenly in the middle of his pacing and charged right up to him. He grabbed Dick's upper arms roughly, "What's happening in there? Is Wally okay?!"

Roy's voice was deep and angry when he spoke but laced with a tinge of hysteria that had his mentor on his feet in an instant. Dick hesitated, glancing at Wally's aunt unsurely. Max hadn't told him what to say. Should he tell them all what he witnessed: that Wally had woken from the dead only to die again? He didn't even know if Barry, Jay, and Dr. Mid-Nite would be able to revive him again. Should he tell Iris and risk giving her false hope if it didn't work? Or would it be kinder to stay silent until it was all over and they knew for sure?

Iris looked up at him with huge, sad eyes, and Dick found himself shaking his head numbly.

"I don't know…" he whispered. Roy's intense anger broke unexpectedly, and then he looked exactly like Dick felt on the inside. Helpless and scared and… _young_. There were very few times in his superhero career when Dick felt like he couldn't handle something, and this was definitely one of them.

And it wasn't even a supervillain that had caused it.

Dick let Roy hook an arm around his neck and pull him into a hug. He sagged against Roy's sturdy frame gratefully, closed his eyes, and let his surrogate big brother take the reins. Roy guided him to the seat beside Hal and forced him to sit. He stood directly beside Dick and kept one arm around his shoulders protectively. Hal reached out a hand and rested it briefly on Dick's knee, giving it a small, reassuring squeeze. His mask was gone, and Dick could see his tired brown eyes looking back at him. Hal gave him a weary, fake half-smile and returned to staring grimly at the double doors. Dick figured that the distinguished Green Lantern was exhausted. He _had_ just gotten back from flying all over the universe on a two day mission. And when he arrives, he finds out his best friend's nephew was killed while they were gone.

Hal buried his face in his hands and leaned back in his chair. The waiting was clearly killing everyone.

And they waited in silence for five hours until something finally happened. The only warning they had was Superman jerking upright all of a sudden and tensing for a fight.

The double doors slammed open with a gust of wind like a hurricane and a streak of red and yellow that halted inches from Bruce's face. Barry was standing before them now, vibrating dangerously, electricity crackling all along his body, with a murderous expression on his face. Even his eyes were sparking with fury. Hal and Oliver leapt to their feet as Barry leveled a vicious glare at Batman.

" _Where the FUCK is he?!"_ Barry thundered, lightning now beginning to jump from his limbs in wild arcs. Bruce didn't even so much as flinch. Dick watched his mentor draw up to his full height and match Barry's glare evenly.

"Watchtower holding cell number eight. Diana is standing guard waiting for you," Bruce answered without hesitation. Clark turned to regard him in disbelief as Barry zoomed out of sight, looking for all the world like a predator seeking blood. Superman turned and flew after him without a word.

They were all so shocked at seeing Barry in such a rage that no one even noticed Jay and Max standing in the open doorway until they spoke.

"Iris, honey…" Jay beckoned to her, holding the door open wide. Dick's blue eyes roved over the first Flash's face, looking for any hint that would tell him what had happened to his friend. His expression was gentle and tired, but unreadable.

Iris seemed to be trying desperately to keep it together. She got to her feet shakily and took a deep shuddering breath to steady herself. Max moved aside to let her pass, "Dr. Mid-Nite said that he would allow three in at a time."

She paused at the doorway then and turned around to look at her husband's closest friend pleadingly, "Hal…"

He was at her side in a second, placing a white gloved hand on her back to guide her through the door, but Iris' eyes found Dick next, and she called him over too, "Robin, dear, would you please…?"

Before he could decide whether or not he was ready to find out what happened, Dick was on his feet and following them through the door without even thinking to ask for Bruce's permission to go. Jay accompanied them into the ward while Max stayed outside. Just before the door swung closed, Dick heard Johnny ask: 'Is he alive?'

Jay led them down the hallway past the surgical room and observation room that Dick had been hiding in earlier. He craned his neck to spy into the surgical room only to find the table empty. His heart constricted violently in his chest, and he quickened his pace to keep up with the trio ahead of him. Jay stopped right outside a new room and ushered them all in.

They'd moved Wally's body to an actual hospital bed. He was now dressed in clean blue scrubs which were infinitely better than the torn and bloody clothes he'd been killed in. The tubes and wires and IVs were still there, all except for the breathing tube that had been inserted down his throat earlier. Wally's eyes were finally closed; Dick didn't know if he could take looking into his best friend's empty green eyes again.

Wally's chest rose silently beneath the blankets and fell a second later. Another second passed, and it rose again. He was _breathing_! Dick heard a loud sob of relief tear from Iris' mouth, and she ran to the side of the bed, mindful not to upset any of the tubes sticking out of her nephew. She leaned over Wally's sleeping form and gingerly stroked the side of his face, switching between lovingly smoothing back his hair and wiping at the tears freely streaming down her face. Hal stood at the foot of the bed with a wide smile on his face. He laughed quietly to himself and gripped the footboard with shaking hands.

"He's going to be okay?" Iris could only whisper. She placed a kiss on Wally's forehead.

"We think so," Jay reported happily. "Barry and I had to revive him five times before his body finally had enough strength to keep working on its own."

"How did you bring him back, though?" Hal asked. "Clark was waiting for us in the Javelin bay when we got back, and he was the one who told us that Wally was dead – that he'd been dead for _hours_. I mean, I'm no doctor, and I'm definitely not complaining, but I kinda thought this was impossible."

Jay leaned back against the doorframe and shrugged, shaking his head at a loss, "Well, I could tell you everything we did and how, but I have no idea why it worked. Dr. Mid-Nite's just as baffled. He's pouring over all his notes as we speak, trying to make sense of it. For now, I guess we're just going to have to chalk it up to another speedster mystery and be glad that our little roadrunner is still with us."

"Why isn't he awake?" Dick managed to wrest control of his limbs and walk up to Wally's bedside across from his aunt. He definitely liked it better right here. Up close, he could see more proof that Wally was alive besides the steady rise and fall of his chest. Dick could see rapid eye movement beneath closed lids and minute twitching in the fingers resting on his stomach. He hesitantly reached out and touched his best friend's arm, relieved to find that the skin was the same temperature as it had always been.

"Mid-Nite put him under once he was stable," Jay explained, suddenly right behind him. The towering speedster clapped a heavy hand on Dick's shoulder bracingly. "He's not in a coma, don't worry."

"Did Wally say anything? Dr. Mid-Nite said there might be brain damage," Dick asked worriedly. He didn't know what he'd do if Wally wasn't Wally anymore. Iris and Hal clearly hadn't considered that yet, because they both turned to stare at him in surprised horror, and then at Jay for an answer.

Jay shifted uncomfortably under their combined stares, "We don't know if he has any brain damage yet. Mid-Nite said there was no way to know until Wally wakes up. He called it… global cerebral ischemia I think. Said that it was when the brain didn't get any oxygen. He said that even a few minutes of that could cause irreversible brain damage, and since Wally was dead for hours… We may not get him back. But Mid-Nite also said that Wally's body is showing zero signs of oxygen deprivation, which should be impossible. So, he might also be completely fine. We'll just have to wait and see. When…when we shocked Wally back to life the last time, he seemed sort of lucid, but I couldn't really tell. He seemed to recognize us, and I think he started to say Barry's name, but he was so terrified and panicked that I couldn't really tell. Then he started screaming and convulsing, and Dr. Mid-Nite knocked him out as soon as it was safe."

Iris looked away then back to her nephew's face. Her despair was quickly warping into a dark fury that worryingly resembled the blood rage that Barry had flown into out in the hallway. Her jaw tightened, "Do you know for sure what happened to him yet?"

Dick looked up to see Jay watching them all with a severe expression, "Martian Manhunter left in the middle of us trying to revive Wally. When he came back, we were just about to move the kid to this room. He levitated him for us and said that he went to help Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman with the interrogation. Then, he told us that it was true that Rudy had killed him."

Dick felt his heart sink. What the hell had made Wally's dad kill him? He had never heard Wally say a single word against his father. Dick had always thought that Wally had a great relationship with his parents. He'd even been _jealous_ of him.

"Max and I were there in the house with Rudy. We both saw how he was acting, but that was the first that Barry had heard about it. I didn't want to tell him when he first got here so that he could have a few minutes with Wally, and then we started trying to _save_ Wally, and I didn't want the knowledge to distract him," Jay recounted miserably. "Well, then Martian Manhunter told us that Rudy had admitted to abusing Wally for _years_ and that they'd confirmed it through his memories, and Barry just went ballistic."

Iris' lips pressed into a thin line, and she began breathing heavily as if suppressing a deep fury. Hal moved to her side then, "If you need to go, I'll stay here with him."

"No!" Iris took one of Wally's hands and sat down firmly on the edge of the bed, making it very clear that she wasn't about to leave. "I'm his only family here now, and I want to be right here when he wakes up."

Hal backed off with a good-natured smile.

"But…" Iris looked back up at him suddenly. "I'm worried about Barry."

"Say no more," Hal's expression was grim now. He enveloped himself with his power ring's light and floated a few inches off the ground. "I'll try to keep you updated, and I'll send Barry back up here as soon as he'll let me. I promise."

Hal reached out and squeezed Wally's shoulder, "You'd better get well fast, kid. The next time I come in here, I want to see you awake."

Then, he flared bright green and flew out of the ward. Dick watched him go and wondered if he was supposed to leave soon as well. He jumped in place when a slender hand touched his arm. Iris was smiling at him sadly, "Robin, you can stay as long as you want, sweetheart."

Not for the first time, Dick wondered if Wally's aunt could read minds.

So, he stayed. Less than a minute after Hal left, Roy came running in. He was angry again. The red haired archer fired off question after question, all the while checking Wally over himself like he wasn't willing to trust anyone else's word. Max must've filled everyone in on what happened and how Wally was doing.

Roy stuck around for half an hour to make sure that Wally wasn't going to die all of a sudden and then stormed off to go find Dr. Mid-Nite. He was demanding a detailed rundown of Wally's injuries and what was being done about them.

Johnny and John Stewart came in next, continuing to flout the 'three visitors at a time' rule that Jay had broken almost immediately. The elder speedsters seemed to think that they had every right to camp out in the room, and Dick honestly wanted to see someone _try_ to make them leave.

Johnny mostly spoke to Jay in hushed tones during his visit. Dick couldn't understand what they were saying, as most of the conversations were in superspeed. The Green Lantern was much more companionable. He didn't stay very long, but while he was there, he managed to make Iris and Dick laugh a few times. He told stories about his adventures with Hal, Barry, and Wally from before the Team was formed and kept referring to Wally as 'Hotshot'.

Elongated Man came in next and immediately stretched his neck, torso, and limbs to alarming lengths to get a good look at Wally. He appeared to know the teenage speedster very well, as well as Iris. He spoke to the upset woman for a long time, mentioning someone named 'Sue' a lot and how they were there for Iris and Barry if they needed _anything_.

Black Canary and Green Arrow showed up right after he left. Black Canary was very formal with Iris, offering condolences and the promise that she would make the JLA give her every detail and scrap of information that they pulled from her brother. Green Arrow, in contrast, stayed mostly silent. He just watched Wally sleep with an extremely upset look on his face. Both Dick and Wally had stayed over at Oliver's place a lot when they were younger and visiting Roy. Of the three mentors, Oliver was definitely the most fun, and he'd mostly let them do whatever they wanted. He remembered one sleepover where Ollie taught them how to play poker. He knew that the mentors had a kind of solidarity where they looked out for each other's protégés whenever possible.

Before they both left, Black Canary nodded to Dick and relayed that she was off to the Cave to let the Team know that Wally was alive and on the mend. Green Arrow tousled Wally's hair carefully and promised to bring him a huge vat of chili when he woke up to help him build his strength.

Dick cocked an eyebrow, but remained silent. Ollie's chili was more likely to land Wally _back_ in the hospital. Iris seemed to be thinking along the same lines, as her eye twitched, and she gripped Wally's hand tighter like she was trying to protect him from the future chili.

Bruce came in last, and the second he reached the bed, Iris rose from one of the chairs that Jay had fetched for her and Dick.

"Thank you," she said sincerely. "Black Canary told me that you were the one who discovered what happened and called Jay and the others in to help. I just wanted to say thank you. _So much._ If you hadn't found him when you did, they might not have been able to save him."

Bruce shook his head slowly, "Robin was the one who knew something was wrong. He was the reason that I checked on Kid Flash. I only followed Flash's instructions in the event of a speedster emergency."

Iris turned and looked at Dick in a new light then. She smiled at him quite sadly and reached over to take his hand, "Thank you for looking out for Wally. You saved his life. I couldn't ask for a better friend for him."

Dick felt his face heat up, and he stammered an embarrassed dismissal of her verdict. Bruce came to stand beside him then and addressed Iris in an even tone.

"Has anyone told you anything concerning Mary West's condition?"

Iris' eyes went wide, and she covered her mouth with a muted gasp, "Oh God, I'd forgotten that she was hurt too! How is she?"

"Doctor Light was unable to revive her," Bruce told her solemnly. "She was pronounced dead on arrival. I'm very sorry."

Dick stared up at his mentor in disbelief. Wally had to deal with the fact that his father tried to kill him _and_ the death of his mother when he woke up? How the hell was that fair?!

Iris was absolutely devastated. She turned to look at Wally with fresh tears in her eyes. In the corner, Jay and Johnny had fallen silent.

"I can't stay long," Bruce spoke quietly. He turned to address the two speedsters. "I wanted to check on things here and relay a message from Max Mercury. He's asking for your help down at the holding cells. Superman and Green Lantern are having difficulties restraining Flash. They're hoping you can help calm him down."

Jay sighed wearily and took off out of the room in a blink, Johnny following right after. Iris looked miserable at the news. Dick figured that it would take nothing less than an act of God to keep the Flash from murdering Rudy West tonight.

Bruce eyed the sleeping Wally with a scrutinizing eye, no doubt taking in the monitors' feedback and assessing his condition. He took a deep breath then and placed a very comforting hand on Dick's shoulder, "I truly am sorry for what has happened to your family, Mrs. Allen. Kid…Wally is very important to us as well."

He squeezed Dick's shoulder once before nodding to Iris respectfully and heading back out of the room, "Robin, you may stay here as long as you are welcome. If you decide to leave, I'd like you to return to Gotham."

"Yes, sir," he responded quietly. And then his mentor was gone, and he and Iris were alone in the room with Wally. "Do you want me to…?"

"Of course not, Dick," Iris adjusted Wally's pillow and the sheets on the bed. She was the only civilian aside from Alfred who knew his secret identity. Bruce would be so pissed off if he knew that Dick had told her. "You're family."

Dick felt his face flush again, and he hunkered down in his chair for the long wait, listening to the steady sound of Wally's breathing and Iris' soothing voice as she softly hummed to her nephew.

Dick opened his eyes and jerked upright in his chair, pulling free from the nightmare he'd been trapped in. It took him a moment to figure out where he was until he heard the familiar beep of the heart monitors. He was in the Watchtower's med bay at Wally's bedside. He blinked a few times groggily, wondering why it was so dark all of a sudden until he realized that he must've fallen asleep hours ago. Someone had turned off all but the hallway lights in the ward, and if Dick wasn't used to long nights patrolling Gotham on a regular basis, he might've missed the extra presence in the room.

Barry Allen was sitting upright directly across the bed from Dick with one leg hooked over the other. His wife was curled up in the chair beside him, fast asleep and leaning against his chest. Barry was awake and staring hard at something miles away, absently rubbing a thumb along his wife's shoulder.

Feeling his muscles and spine ache from being stuck in such an awkward position for so long, Dick slowly grasped the armrests of his chair and pulled himself up. He rolled his neck and flexed the creaks and snaps out of his back and shoulder blades. When he looked back up, Flash was staring at _him_ now, blue eyes now sharp with awareness. Dick stared back, not wanting to break the silence first but worrying that it was rude to ignore him.

"Hey, little bird," Barry said wearily with a small half smile. Dick wasn't fond of the nickname, but Flash had been calling him that since he was ten, so he was cool with it. Plus, it was a lot better than 'roadrunner'.

"Hi," he croaked back, voice still thick with sleep. Dick's eyes flickered over to look at Wally, and he was disappointed to find that there was no change. His best friend was still asleep, and it looked like he hadn't moved an inch.

"I heard about what you did," Barry spoke again, and his voice sounded strange in the otherwise silent room. "Thank you."

Dick smiled back politely and nodded, turning his attention back to Wally, "Has he woken up yet?"

"No," Barry looked at Wally too, and there was an abrupt fierceness in his eyes that scared the young hero. "Not yet. Dr. Mid-Nite was in here an hour ago to check on him, and he said that Wally should be up within the next hour or two."

Then, they'd find out if he was still their lovable speedster, or… Dick shook his head. That had been his nightmare: that Wally had woken up and was just an empty shell with no brain activity, no vivacious spirit.

"Did his dad really do it?" Dick asked, still a bit uncomprehending of the situation. He hoped that if he heard it firsthand this time, it would make sense.

He thought he was prepared for Barry to be angry at the mention of Wally's father, but when the speedster fixed Dick with a glare full of the blackest fury he'd ever seen, the young hero's spine shuddered violently. "Yes. And he's been emotionally and physically abusing Wally since he was _five_."

His voice cracked on the last word, and then Barry turned tortured eyes downward to his hands, "How the hell did I miss something like this?"

Dick's heart gave a painful twist, and he looked down at his own hands then, tightly clutching his knees so hard that the knuckles would be white under the gauntlets. He didn't know how to answer the speedster. He'd been asking himself that very same question the whole night. If he was supposed to be Wally's best friend, then how come he'd never figured out what was going on?

They both sat together in silence for a few short minutes, Dick spending the time tearing himself apart inside. He folded his arms across his chest to have an extra layer of security to compensate for his sudden lack of confidence, "So, what happens now?"

Barry's eyes were burning again, "Rudy pays."

"What happens with Wally?"

"I don't know yet," Barry said quietly. "Iris and I want him to come live with us when this is all over, but there are a lot of factors determining that. Batman's trying to figure a way out of this that keeps Wally's identity and the League out of it and puts Rudy in prison for the rest of his life. I personally want the rest of his worthless life to be measured in hours, but…I can't do that…"

Dick remembered Bruce saying earlier that _Superman_ had been unable to hold back Flash by himself. He wondered briefly just how close Wally's uncle had come to murdering Rudy West. It was probably best to change the subject in case he accidentally incited Barry to dash back down to the holding cells and finish the job.

"Do you know how long I was asleep?" he asked lamely, not knowing what else to say.

Barry smiled a little, seeming grateful for the distraction, "You were out cold when I came back. Hal threatened to launch me out into space if I didn't come up here to check on Wally. That was about two hours ago. Iris and I talked for a good half an hour before I convinced her to try and get some sleep, and then an hour after that, you started twitching like you were having a bad nightmare. I almost woke you up, but I wanted you to get as much rest as possible. You're gonna need it if you're going to be there for Wally, as you seem so adamant to be. Pushing for someone to check on him, arguing with your mentor to be let onto the Watchtower, and sneaking into the observation room while we worked on him…"

Dick felt himself turn red and tried his best to look properly ashamed even though Barry was grinning at him like he was impressed.

"I probably shouldn't have let you stay to see that," Barry's smile faded then, and he looked regretful. "I knew you were there, but I didn't have any time to-"

"Max kicked me out pretty soon after you started trying to save him the second time," Dick told him quickly. "I tried to get him to let me go back, but he still kicked me out into the waiting area."

"It's hard to separate you two sometimes," Barry chuckled half-heartedly. He looked overwhelmed by grief then and reached out to take Wally's hand. "I don't know what I'm gonna do if-"

The second Barry's fingers closed around Wally's hand, the young redhead gasped unexpectedly, and his eyes snapped open, darting around wildly in the socket in the throes of some unseen terror. Both Dick and Barry jumped in surprise and looked on in stunned silence as Wally choked on a scream, back arching and limbs tensing in agony. Iris jerked awake at the sound, and her eyes widened at the sight of her nephew awake.

Barry was on his feet lightning fast, turning up the morphine drip feeding into Wally's veins and pushing him back down on the bed. Dick stood up too, heart pounding madly in his chest as he threw all his weight on his friend's thrashing legs to help keep him still.

"Wally!" Barry held his arms down as the teen tried to defend himself in a blind panic. He took Wally's face in both hands and tried to force his nephew to look at him, "Wally, it's me! It's Uncle Barry! I'm not going to hurt you; no one's going to hurt you. Please just breathe."

Dick could see Wally's green eyes finally lock onto Flash, but although the frantic struggles quieted significantly, he was still hyperventilating and cringing in pain. Iris darted around to Dick's side of the bed and half climbed onto the hospital mattress in order to steal Wally's attention away from Barry. She cupped the side of Wally's face with one hand and leaned down to stare into his eyes as she soothingly smoothed back his sweat dampened hair.

"It's okay, sweetheart," she cooed, forcing a wide, reassuring smile onto her face even though Dick could see her hands shaking. "Auntie Iris is here. You're safe, honey, you're safe."

Wally watched his aunt intently like she was a lifeline, and if he looked away he would drown. He took one deep breath after the other, oftentimes coughing roughly because of the newly healed damage to his throat and lung. Iris continued to stroke his hair calmly and whisper encouraging words to him while he worked to control his panic.

Eventually, the increased morphine did its work. Without the searing pain, Wally calmed down considerably until he was only lying still in the bed and staring at his aunt with a mixture of alarm and deep bewilderment. She continued to smile warmly at him and was holding it together quite well until Wally narrowed his eyes as if to see her better and mumbled, "Aunt Iris…?"

Then, Iris lost her false composure. She bit her lip against a sob and wound her arms around Wally's neck in a tight hug, lightly pressing a kiss to his hair. Barry took Wally's hand again and held it tightly while his other hand gripped his shoulder, tears beginning to fall from his eyes, "Welcome back, Kid."

Wally still looked lost, but he remained silent as his aunt and uncle fussed over him in relief.

"How are you feeling, sweetie?" Iris pulled back from the hug and compulsively adjusted his pillow and sheets again from his panic attack.

Wally stared at them weakly, breathing heavily and cringing with every movement. His voice was raw and hoarse when he spoke, and Dick was barely able to understand him.

"P…ain…" he managed to rasp out. Then, his face screwed up in agony, and he started coughing, which only seemed to put him in worse pain.

"Hang tight, Kid," Barry zipped out of the room then and returned a second later carrying a very disgruntled looking Dr. Mid-Nite. He set the hero physician down next to the bed and tried to pull Dick and Iris a few steps back to give him room to move. Dick complied silently, but Iris veritably snarled at her husband and smacked his hand away. She glared at Dr. Mid-Nite as if daring him to ask her to move.

Dick looked up at Barry in surprise, but the speedster seemed neither hurt nor shocked at her reaction. He was actually smiling and shaking his head like he thought it was funny. When he noticed Dick staring, he winked and crossed his arms loosely over his chest, "That's my girl. She gets a little protective."

If Dick was a few years older and had a bit more muscle tacked onto his body, he might've pointed out how hypocritical that was considering the rage that Barry had gone into just a few hours before. But as it was, Wally's aunt and uncle were both a little too terrifying. So, he stayed quiet and watched Dr. Mid-Nite check his friend over.

The League doctor left the bedside for a moment to retrieve a light green fluid from a refrigerated cabinet off to the side. He slid an arm under Wally's back and helped him sit up a little, "Drink this. I have a few questions for you, and this will help ease the pain in your throat so that you can answer."

He slowly tipped the vial to Wally's lips until he'd swallowed it all and made a face at the taste. Dick almost laughed. It was such a Wally thing to do.

Dr. Mid-Nite then went about checking Wally over for responses to stimuli and inspecting the state of his various injuries, "Can you tell me your full name, please?"

Wally blinked at him in confusion at first, then closed his eyes and winced in pain like it still hurt to talk. Dick imagined that a bullet through the neck would hurt quite a lot, no matter how well it had been stitched up. "Wally-uh sorry… Wallace Rudolph West."

His voice was still raspy, but he seemed able to manage it. Dr. Mid-Nite nodded distractedly, "And how old are you, Wally?"

"Sixteen," he responded without hesitation.

Mid-Nite took one of his hands and pressed down hard on the skin between Wally's thumb and index fingers. Wally jerked his hand away immediately.

"And when is your birthday?" Mid-Nite flicked Wally's ear. The teenager flinched and shot his hand up to smack him away.

"November 11, 1994. Quit it," Wally said, annoyed.

"I'm just checking your pain responses. You're doing very well. Now, what year is it, Wally?" Dr. Mid-Nite continued.

"2011. It's February."

"Do you know where you are?"

Wally looked around then, brow furrowing as he took in the hospital room. "No. A hospital?" Then, he craned his neck and spotted the thick window beside his bed and all the stars and the Earth in the background. He really looked confused then. "A hospital in space? Wait, am I in the Watchtower?!"

Dick snickered, feeling pound by pound the invisible weight on his shoulders beginning to lift. Wally seemed to be okay mentally. Iris was crying happily now, a huge smile on her face.

Dr. Mid-Nite ceased his examination then and took a seat in one of the chairs that Barry and Iris had vacated. He looked at Wally very seriously then, "Do you know _why_ you're here?"

Dick's eyes shot to his best friend's face, and he watched it drain of what little color it had. Wally's eyes glassed over and seemed to go blank again. His hands trembled slightly, and both Iris and Barry suddenly turned grim. Wally stared emptily at a point miles away, his eyelids twitching minutely like he was trapped in a horrible memory.

"My dad… He…" he choked, unable to continue. Iris stroked his hair comfortingly and tried to hide her own despair.

Then, Wally seemed to remember something very specific. He shot upright in a panic and looked straight at Barry, "My mom! Dad told me he killed her. Right after he shot me. Is she-?"

Iris shook her head wordlessly, letting loose one sob before regaining control of herself. Wally's expression crumpled, and he dropped his eyes to the bed, devastated, "Where's my dad…?"

"He's here," Barry told him grimly. Wally looked at him like he was insane, and Barry quickly added, "In one of our holding cells. Hal's on him right now. He's not going anywhere. He can't hurt you."

Wally closed his eyes and covered his face in grief, slowly leaning back against the bed. Dick felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Something wasn't right. Wally was in anguish over his mother's death. That was understandable. Expected. But something else was missing.

His best friend opened his eyes again and gazed up at the ceiling with a look that was heavy with guilt. And then Dick saw what it was. Wally was feeling sad and, for some reason, responsible for what happened but not surprised. He didn't look betrayed or shocked or hurt about what his father had done to him.

Dr. Mid-Nite excused himself after giving Wally some more drugs to help with the pain and to fight off infection. Then, he announced that they could have another half hour with him before he put Wally back to sleep, citing that all the emotional stress would do him no good in healing.

So, they were all alone with Wally again, no one sure what to say or how to comfort the young speedster. Eventually, Barry took a seat on the opposite side of Wally from Iris and looked at his protégé very seriously, "Wally, when Batman and Wonder Woman were interrogating your father, he said that he'd been abusing you since you were five."

Wally didn't say anything to that, but he refused to meet his uncle's eyes. That was as good as proof to Dick.

"J'onn looked into his memories to confirm it," Barry continued. "He told me that what he saw was disturbing…and that it only got worse as you got older."

Wally looked over at Dick for the first time since he'd woken up. He looked scared suddenly, like he didn't want Dick to hear any of this. And that didn't make any sense. Weren't they best friends?

"Wally, is all that true?" Iris asked softly, prompting him to answer his uncle. Wally stared hard at his feet for a long minute before nodding almost imperceptibly.

" _Why_ didn't you tell anyone?" Barry asked incredulously. "Wally, I could have stopped it. Didn't you think I would have helped you?"

"No!" Wally exclaimed insistently, "It's not that. I- It wasn't that bad…"

"Not that bad?!" Dick gasped in disbelief, "He _killed_ you!"

Wally flinched at Dick's tone and became defensive. He clutched his sides protectively and avoided all of their gazes once more, speaking in a low mumble, "I didn't know he'd- I was just used to it. By the time I met you and got my powers, it was…normal. It wasn't a big deal."

Iris watched Wally speak in open horror like her heart was breaking with every word. Barry's expression wasn't too far from hers, and Dick just stared in shock.

"That doesn't make any sense," Iris whispered through her emotions. "You may not have known Barry back then, but you certainly knew _me_. I was always there for you, Wally. I babysat you every weekend. You could have told me at any time. I _adore_ you; I would not have let this happen!"

"I was five," Wally argued. "I didn't know what would happen if I told anyone. I remember Dad telling me that nobody would believe me if I said anything and that people would take me away if they did. And I was afraid that he would keep hurting Mom if I wasn't there."

"Your father hit Mary too?" Iris' eyes went wide again. It wasn't too much of a stretch to believe, seeing as he had killed her, but Dick figured that it was different hearing the fact spoken aloud.

Wally nodded miserably, "Only for a little while. That's how it started. He used to only hit Mom at first, but then I figured out that if I got him to hit me instead, he'd leave her alone."

Dick's stomach dropped into his knees and dread quickly filled his chest. No… Wally hadn't-

"You decided to take Rudy's punches so that your mother wouldn't have to…" Barry spoke numbly, looking at his nephew in horrified awe.

Wally nodded silently.

"I can't believe that Mary would let him hurt you," Iris breathed.

"She didn't know what was happening," Wally reassured her, which seemed to have the opposite effect. "Once Dad stopped hitting her, she stopped being so depressed all the time. I never heard her crying in the laundry room anymore, and after awhile, she just seemed so much happier. I was afraid that if I said anything, she'd get upset again or worse. I was worried for a long time that she would find out and confront Dad about it, and then he'd start hurting her all over again."

"But didn't you learn when you got older that it was wrong?" Iris asked despairingly.

"Yeah, but by that time years had gone by, and I was used to it," he said. "It was getting a little better too. Really. Right before I turned ten, it had been almost a year since he'd hit me. It wasn't until after the accident in Uncle Barry's lab and I got my super speed that he started again. Then, it was like he hated me so much all of a sudden. The beatings got ten times worse, and then once he understood my powers, he started doing different things to me."

"Like what?!" Barry growled furiously.

Wally's eyes flickered over to look at him for a second, before breaking contact again, "He'd starve me sometimes when Mom was out of the house and it was just the two of us. And when he figured out that I healed a lot faster than before, he stopped holding back. He could leave a lot more cuts and bruises when they healed in hours."

Barry let out a tortured cry and ran a hand through his hair agitatedly, "But Wally, you were my sidekick by then! You knew what he was doing to you was wrong by then. I don't understand _why_ you never told me! God, Wally, I love you like you were my own son. I'd do anything to protect you! _Why_ didn't you tell me your dad was hurting you?!"

Tears of shame filled Wally's beautiful green eyes then, and he took a deep, shuddering breath, still unable to look his uncle in the eye, "I didn't want _you_ to know anything about it! I'd practically worshipped the Flash my whole life long before I knew you were the same person. I wanted to be just like you, and when it happened and I got my wish, I was terrified that you would find out. I was so happy to be your sidekick, but I was worried that if you found out that my own dad didn't love me and that he beat the tar out of me regularly, that you would think I was weak and you wouldn't want me as a partner anymore."

Barry froze, and Dick had never seen such a guilt-ridden look of anguish before. When he spoke, his voice was barely a whisper, "The reason you didn't tell anyone…was me…?"

"No!" Wally said hastily, staring imploringly at his uncle now, frantic tears streaming down his face, "I just- I didn't want you to know! I was so ashamed that I'd let it go on so long, and I didn't want you to know how stupid I'd been. I didn't know how to make it stop without you and Aunt Iris finding out – or the League and the Team. I mean, I have _superpowers,_ and I just kept letting it happen. I didn't know what to do… And then I got my mom killed. All this time I thought I was protecting her. I _never_ thought that Dad would escalate like that. It's all my fault that she's dead! If I'd just fucking _told somebody_ , then she'd still be alive."

He completely broke down then, sobbing uncontrollably and tearing at his hair until Iris pinned his arms down and pulled him into a tight embrace, letting him bury his face in her neck. Dick looked on in dazed shock at his friend's deep self-loathing and barely managed to keep himself standing.

Barry quietly moved to sit on the edge of the bed. He took Wally's hand to get his attention and hooked the other behind the teen's neck, "This is _not_ your fault, Wally."

The redhead opened his mouth to protest hysterically, but Barry silenced him with a firm but gentle shake.

"No. Look at me," he said slowly and clearly. "This isn't your fault. Your father is a monster. Anyone who could hurt their child like that- He was brainwashing you for years into thinking that people would think less of you for this. Your mother's death is _not_ your fault. I will not allow you to blame yourself for this, do you understand?"

Wally stared at him sadly for a long minute before giving a small nod, but Dick could see the heavy guilt that still filled his eyes.

"Your _father_ pulled the trigger," Flash said again. "You're the one who protected your mother for eleven years."

The young speedster shot his hand out at superspeed to catch his uncle's wrist before he pulled away, wincing slightly at the strain of using his powers in his condition. When he spoke, his expression was desperate, "Please believe me; I never thought he'd try to kill us. I would've come to you, no matter what, if I thought he was capable of that. I swear."

"Wally, it doesn't make us feel any better knowing that you were okay with your dad 'only' beating you." Iris tenderly ran her fingers along his scalp to calm him down. "Please tell me that you don't believe you deserved all of this."

The look in his eyes said that, yes, Wally hated himself enough to think that he deserved everything his father had done to him. That was when Dick realized that it would take months if not _years_ of intense therapy to repair his best friend's mental state. He would have to watch him closely the whole time, because it was clear now that Wally was an excellent actor. True, they all had their little insecurities, but Dick would have never guessed that Wally hated himself this much.

Barry seemed to get that they weren't going to accomplish anything along those lines today. He placed a hand on his wife's shoulder and shook his head silently. "Dr. Mid-Nite wants us to let you rest for the night, but Batman wanted me to get your side of what happened on tape if you were feeling up to it. What do you say, kid? Do you want to go ahead and get this over with now?"

Wally nodded mutely, waiting while his uncle produced one of Bruce's WayneTech stealth recorders.

"Just start from the beginning and tell everything that you remember," Barry said reluctantly. It was obvious that he didn't want to put his nephew through this. "If you want to stop, just say so. It'll be completely fine."

Dick moved back to Wally's bedside, trying his best to support his friend in any way. Wally stared at his hands blankly while he spoke, only needing a few seconds to gather his thoughts, "It happened last night, I think. Is today the 11th?"

Barry nodded.

"It must've been around five o clock. Mom…uh was making dinner early because she had her book club to go to. I was up in my room working on an AP Chem project when I heard Dad call for me from downstairs. I opened the door and got about halfway down the steps when I saw Dad at the foot of the stairs. I heard a loud bang, and then something hit me in the chest and knocked me onto my back… Then, Dad started walking up the stairs, and I saw the gun in his hand. I… I didn't understand what was happening. He shot me a couple more times – I don't know how many. One of the bullets got me in the neck," Wally absently touched the hollow at his throat and felt around until his fingers brushed the stitches holding the skin together. "Then, I couldn't breathe. I started to panic, and then everything started to hurt all at once. Dad was talking to me, but the only thing I really remember him saying is that I was a disappointment and that if I wasn't such a freak, he wouldn't be this way and he wouldn't have had to kill my mother. And I tried to get up, but I couldn't really move, and everything was going really dark. The last thing I saw was my dad shaking a knife at me. Then nothing."

Dick didn't know if Wally's account matched up with his father's or not. He probably wouldn't know for a few more days until Bruce felt that the case was closed. He was marginally relieved to find out that his best friend at least wasn't conscious for the stab wound, but it was a small comfort in the face of an impossible horror.

Wally finished talking and stared straight ahead, lost in his memories. Barry gripped his shoulder and pulled him into a one-armed hug, "You did great, kid. This will help Batman a lot. He'll want to ask you a few questions later himself, I'm sure, but not until you're back on your feet. So, don't worry about it for now. Okay?"

Wally nodded as his aunt carefully wrapped her arms around his neck and embraced him tightly, "I'm being allowed to stay on the Watchtower tonight, so I can be here in two minutes if you need me. I promise I'll be right here when you wake up, honey. I love you."

Iris gave her nephew a quick kiss on the cheek and let her hands fall away as she stepped back from the bed. Dick moved to say goodnight to his friend as well, but Wally wouldn't meet his eyes. He kept taking care to keep Dick out of his peripheral vision whenever possible and hadn't said two words to him this whole time. Dick wished he wasn't selfish enough to feel hurt. Wally had just been through a life-altering ordeal. Why did he need to have all of Wally's attention?

Then, before Dick could have a moment to say anything, Dr. Mid-Nite strode into the room and ushered them all out before giving Wally his next rounds of treatments and a hefty dose of general anesthesia, telling them that they could all return in six or seven hours. Barry kept a hand on Dick's shoulder as they walked out, and Dick glanced back at Wally one more time before they rounded the corner and he was out of sight.

He felt worse than ever before.

They passed through the doors to the waiting room, and Dick found that all but the three older speedsters had gone. All three shot to their feet when they spotted Barry, demanding an update. Flash smiled wearily, "He woke up about an hour ago."

"How was he?" Jay asked immediately, forehead wrinkled in concern.

"Upset," Barry answered in what had to be the understatement of the year. "But he's fully cognizant, which is more than I was praying for."

The three metas let out a chorus of relieved sighs, and Dick watched them curiously. He knew a little about Jay, who was the very first Flash. Wally had spoken about him a few times, and it had been with the reverence usually reserved for deities. The other two speedsters Dick knew nothing about. He wanted to ask, but they were all speaking at superspeed, and it was impossible to keep up let alone get a word in. Iris smiled down at him understandingly and shook her head helplessly.

Barry seemed to have brought them up to speed on everything that went down in the hospital room.

"You should go fill Green Lantern in," Jay suggested. "He sent up eight messengers for updates in the last three hours."

Barry agreed quickly and returned to Iris and Dick's side, "I'll zip down there next. I'm going to take Robin here to the zeta tubes and Iris to my quarters first."

"No," Iris said firmly. Everyone looked at her in surprise. Dick found the dangerous glint in her eyes to be extremely unsettling. "I want to see my brother."

"Iris…" Barry said slowly, intending to argue perhaps. One look from the fiery redhead shut him down. Dick's respect for Wally's aunt rose several points.

"Alright," he sighed. "Can you take her down Jay? I'll be right there."

"Course," Jay approached Iris, who allowed him to lift her into his arms, and blurred out of sight.

Barry turned to the remaining two speedsters, "I can't thank you enough for coming to help. I'll owe you forever for this."

Max zipped over and patted Barry roughly on the back, "No you won't. The little roadrunner's family to us, too. We wouldn't be anywhere else."

Johnny smiled in agreement before clapping a hand on Barry's shoulder and getting ready to speed off, "You know we're always here when you need us. Now, I've got to book it back to Philly for an hour or two. I sped off on Jesse and Liberty Belle without much of an explanation. Speaking of which, we need to get Wally and Jesse together one of these days once he's back on his feet."

The look on Barry's face said that was not advisable, "Introducing Wally to a pretty blonde speedster his own age might not be such a great idea. I can think of one hundred and nine things that could end badly from that."

Despite the terrible events of the day and endless hours spent waiting for bad news, Max threw his head back and let out a laugh at the resulting expression on Johnny's face.

"Right. I see your point. Maybe later then," Johnny shrugged, speeding out of the room. "I'll be requesting zeta transport back in a few hours. I should probably go check on Joan too while I'm at it."

"Go on," Max settled back down in one of the chairs, having dragged a second in front of it to stretch his long legs out on. "I'll be camping out here for the night. If something happens, you'll be the first to know."

"I appreciate it," Barry steered Dick down the maze of hallways then, heading for the med bay's zeta tubes. "You look dead on your feet, little bird. I hope you can get some sleep tonight."

"Doubt it," Dick shook his head and then looked up at Flash hesitantly. "Can I ask you something?"

"Fire away."

"What's with all the speedsters that showed up? I know Jay Garrick; Wally's told me how close the three of you all are, but I only know that he was the first Flash. And I've never heard of the other two," he said quietly. Dick supposed that he could've just hacked into the Batcave's computer and looked up the info, but he wanted it firsthand from someone involved.

"Well, Jay was mostly active during World War II. He went into retirement around 1951, which was _well_ before my time. I didn't even get to meet him until fifty years after that when he sort of passed the mantle on to me," Barry said thoughtfully, thinking back several years.

Something about all that seemed strange to Dick, "Wait. 1951? How old is Jay?"

"Ninety-two," Barry answered simply. "We celebrated his birthday back in August."

Dick was pretty sure his jaw had dropped to the floor, "Ninety-two?! He doesn't even look seventy!"

Barry chuckled quietly, "Yeah. Max seems to be about the same age. Johnny is only eighty-one."

Working through the sudden shock, Dick tried to force his brain to work normally again, "So what about the other two? Wally's never mentioned them before."

"They don't come around very much," Barry admitted. "But they're very close to Jay. And since Jay thinks of Wally like a grandson, Max and Johnny have sort of adopted him to look after too. It's pretty hard to dislike Wally. Anyways, the silver-haired one is Max Mercury. He's actually from the early 19th century. It's a long story. I don't completely understand it, but somehow he managed to jump through time to different eras. He met Jay and Johnny in 1947, I think. Max is pretty fond of Wally. Johnny Quick is the blond one. He's the most distant, but he's still actively heroing. Plus, he's got his family to take care of, but he always shows up when we need him."

Dick had no idea there were so many speedsters in the USA. He knew there had to be more in the world somewhere, but for five to all know each other and be so close was surprising. Dick supposed that they had to stick together.

"Alright," Barry stopped just shy of the zeta tube. "Here we are. You take care of yourself, Dick. I'll go tell Bruce you're home. And don't worry; I'll make sure you're kept in the loop. Say 'hi' to Alfred for me, okay?"

Dick promised to and watched the speedster disappear down a different hallway. He took two steps toward the metal tunnel before coming to an abrupt halt. A feeling of intense failure surged through his entire body, and he felt his knees go weak. Where the hell did he think he was going? If their situations were reversed and Dick was the one lying in that hospital room, Wally would fight tooth and nail to stay by his side. And he would've said a lot more comforting things than Dick's impressive zero.

He turned on his heel and sprinted back the way he and Flash had come, navigating the halls swiftly before arriving back at the waiting area where Max Mercury looked up at his entrance passively.

"Forget something?"

"Yeah, I did." Dick took a few deep breaths to steady his heartbeat after the race there, "I forgot that Wally is my best friend and that I need to stay in there with him until he's better."

Max's eyes widened marginally for a moment before he rested his head back against the wall with a grin, closing his eyes, "Can't stop you if I can't see you, now can I?"

Dick watched him uncertainly for a few moments. He'd expected more of a fight, honestly, but he wasn't about to press his luck. He darted through the double doors for the third time and crept back to the doorway of Wally's room using every drop of stealth training that Batman had taught him. Dick peered around the doorjamb and saw Dr. Mid-Nite pull a needle back out of Wally's arm and dispose of it in a hazardous waste bin.

"Alright, Mr. West," he was saying quietly. "If you wake in the middle of the night in pain or need anything at all, just press the button on the side of the bed here, and either myself or Doctor Light will be here in minutes."

Wally nodded drowsily and Dick ducked back around the corner as Dr. Mid-Nite left the room, heading for his office in the next ward over. He waited until he heard the doors open and close before he moved, slipping into Wally's room silently.

His best friend was lying on his back, eyes closed and arms folded over his stomach. The lights were all off again, but Dick made his way to the bed without difficulty. He stood right at the side of the hospital bed and watched his friend's pained expression until he couldn't stay quiet any longer, "Hi…"

Green eyes snapped open and focused on his face instantly. Wally looked surprised, and then distraught, "What are you doing here?"

Dick ignored the pang of hurt in his chest and slathered a false confident grin on his face, "Don't be rude. I snuck in to keep you company."

Wally averted his eyes again and stared mournfully at his feet, "Please just go. I don't really want you to see me like this."

"Well, that's too damn bad," Dick said abruptly. He stepped out of his shoes, unclipped his cape, and peeled off his mask. The spirit gum holding it to his skin pulled uncomfortably, but he was used to it. "Move over."

"What?" Wally looked at him again, confused.

"Move over," Dick repeated, ducking beneath the IV leads carefully. He pushed Wally onto his side and climbed onto the small bed with him, taking great care not to disturb his injuries.

"What are you doing?!" Wally protested, automatically making more room on the bed for Dick despite his words.

"I'm staying the night here with you," Dick explained nonchalantly as if nothing was wrong. "And I'm _not_ sleeping in a chair. That killed my spine earlier."

"I just want to be alone right now," the speedster argued feebly, the drugs obviously starting to take effect in his system.

"Well, I'm not leaving. We're best friends, and we stick together no matter what," Dick worked one arm underneath Wally and hooked the other around his alarmingly thin waist, snuggling closer and trying to ignore the odd quickening of his heartbeat. Strange… He shoved it to the back of his mind and stared at Wally determinedly. "But you're welcome to fight me until you pass out. Your call."

Wally seemed momentarily unsettled by their proximity until he gave in and dropped the façade. His expression slackened with depression, and he let his body go limp, "If I was going to tell anyone, it would've been you…"

"Why didn't you?" Dick whispered, gently knocking their foreheads together. Wally closed his eyes and curled one arm around Dick's shoulder.

"I was too ashamed. I didn't want to have to explain to you why I never stopped it," Wally breathed miserably. His eyelids were beginning to flutter more and more with the effort of trying to keep them open.

"I don't think I need an explanation," Dick said slowly, and it was mostly true. He _wanted_ to know, but he didn't need to. There was only _one_ thing that he had to find out tonight before his friend lost consciousness. "But I do want to know something. You're an amazing actor if you've kept this under wraps for eleven years."

"I got it from my dad," Wally mumbled deliriously, and Dick wondered if it was too soon for him to make a joke at his own expense.

"All the time that I've known you and we've been friends…" Dick said tentatively. "Were you acting then?"

Wally looked a lot more awake suddenly. He looked right into Dick's blue eyes and shook his head firmly, "I've always been myself around you. _Especially_ you. The only time I ever acted was when you were at my house and I had to."

Dick smiled calmly, feeling relieved.

"When I got older, I swore to myself that I wasn't going to let my dad ruin my life. I took what I had to at home and then left it there," Wally continued, speaking through gritted teeth. His eyes flashed stubbornly. "I just… I kept everything so separate that by the time I was old enough to know that I needed help, I didn't want anyone to find out what was happening. I just got stuck in my own trap."

"Well, you're out of it now," Dick fought back all his other questions and decided that he'd learned what he needed to, and that would be good enough for tonight. The rest could wait for tomorrow. "And from now on, I'm with you the whole way. We tell each other everything, okay?"

Wally was silent for a long moment, just looking back sadly, before nodding.

"Good," Dick shifted even closer to his best friend and resolutely shut his eyes like that was the end of it. "Now, get some sleep."

"Thanks, Dick," Wally settled his head on Dick's shoulder and buried his face in the crook of his neck.

"Anything for you."


End file.
